Conventional stall dividers are formed from metal, usually steel, and are positioned between animals, particularly dairy cows, to encourage the cows to lie down and rest without hurting themselves or the neighboring animals. Stall dividers are placed at predetermined spaced intervals along a row to separate the resting cattle. In free stall situations, the cows are allowed to enter the divided area of the barn and select a stall in which the cows walk into the stall head first. In free stall systems, the cows are not tied to the stall structure and are generally able to move out of the stall, but the stall dividers encourage the cows to lie down and rest. Generally, cattle are placed in stalls that are immediately adjacent one another with the head of one cow being located proximate to the head of the corresponding cow in the adjacent row of stalls. In free stall systems, the cows are milked and fed at a separate location. With ventilation provided to the free stall area, the cows are comfortable and content.
A different situation is a tie stall system in which the cows are placed in their stalls and tied to a tie bar to keep the cows in their stalls. Typically, tie stall systems have a significant space between the rows of stalls into which feed is positioned in front of each cow. Usually, the cows are milked while present in the tie stall system, and sometimes released afterward to move to a pasture or another area of the barn, or at other times the cows are retained in the tie stall system and encouraged to lie down and rest. In either the free stall or tie stall systems, stall dividers are used to separate the cows from the neighboring cows.
Stall dividers can be shaped in many different forms to conform to the preferences of the owner of the cattle. Some of those different shapes are reflected in FIGS. 8-13 and in FIG. 4. Irrespective of whether the barn utilizes tie stalls or free stalls, the stalls have a divider between them to keep the cows separated, and to keep cool. The particular shapes of the dividers are a matter of choice.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/568,504, filed on Dec. 12, 2014, by Michael Earle and published as U. S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0164037 on Jun. 18, 2015, a different type of stall divider is disclosed. In this Earle patent application, the stall dividers are manufactured from two different materials, including two horizontally-extending, and converging linear members made from a plastic material, i.e. polypropylene random copolymer, which are connected by curved flexible member made from rubber and joined to the distal ends of the two horizontally-extending members to create the stall divider. The curved rubber end member in this Earle patent application is significantly more flexible than the polymer horizontally-extending members to minimize injury to the cows entering the stall, and perhaps impacting the stall dividers.
It would be desirable to provide a stall divider that does not require the utilization of a rubber curved end member, yet allows for flexibility in the stall divider to prevent cows from being injured when running into the stall divider.